WINONA LAKE – The current Grace College women's basketball team can officially stamp itself as the best team in program history after earning a program-record 19th win with a 58-49 victory over Emmanuel College (Ga.) in the opening round of the NCCAA National Championships Wednesday evening at the Orthopaedic Capital Center. The No. 5 Lady Lancers (19-14) held fourth-seeded Emmanuel (21-15) to 28 percent shooting for the game to advance to the NCCAA semifinals for the first time in tournament history. Play in the eight-team women's and eight-team men's tournament continues through Saturday. Other scores in the women's tournament Wednesday included No. 2 seed Cedarville defeating No. 7 seed Roberts Wesleyan Roberts Wesleyan 69-60; No. 6 seed Mt. Vernon topped No. 3 seed Bluefield 48-45; and No. 8 seed Colorado Christian upset No. 1 seed California Baptist 67-56. Roberts Wesleyan was scheduled to play Bluefield at 8:30 this morning, while the Lady Lancers are scheduled to tip off against Colorado Christian at 5:15 p.m. today. Women's teams that lost Wednesday will play in the loser's bracket. Although its lead was never greater than nine points from start to finish, Grace scored the game's first six points and never trailed Wednesday. Krystyn Young tied the game late in the first half for the Lady Lions with an old-fashioned 3-point play. But Kiera Gray responded with a 3-pointer at the other end to help the Lady Lancers to a 31-26 advantage at the halfway mark. The second half was a nailbiter until the final minutes as Emmanuel refused to go down easily. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Emmanuel's Kayla Eaton knotted the game at 44-44 with 7:28 to play, but again Gray had the answer with a jumper on Grace's possession. Gray's basket started a crucial 9-1 run for the Lady Lancers that included four points from Danielle Boykin and a desperation 3-point heave from Jayla Starks that fell through the net as the shot clock expired. Starks found herself with the ball on the right side of the court with the shot clock winding down. With multiple defenders hampering her angle, Starks tossed up a high-arching shot from well beyond the 3-point line that managed to swish through the net to bring the crowd to its feet and, more importantly, give Grace an eight-point lead with 3:22 remaining in the game. From that point on, Grace's defense took over and held Emmanuel without a field goal over the final three minutes of action. Gray led all scorers with 13 points and was 3 of 6 from beyond the arc. Boykin nearly tallied a double-double with 10 points and eight boards before fouling out late in the contest. Hannah Lengel scored all seven of her points in the opening half, and Hayley Cashier tallied four points, seven rebounds and four assists. Kaylyn Young and Krystyn Young each finished with a team-best 11 points for Emmanuel, and Ashontti Lewis added a game-high nine rebounds.
COLORADO CHRISTIAN 67, CALIFORNIA BAPTIST 56 WINONA LAKE – No. 8 Colorado Christian University capped off the first day of the NCCAA National Championships with the upset of the day. Christina Whitelaw nearly had a triple-double with 27 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists to lead the Cougars (16-15) to a 67-56 win over No. 1 California Baptist University. The Lancers (21-6) held a plus-13 advantage on the boards, including grabbing 23 offensive rebounds, but struggled mightily to make shots. California Baptist shot 23 percent from the field for the game and 16 percent in the second half (6-of-37) to allow Colorado Christian to ease away for the win. The Cougars grabbed the lead for good five minutes into the game, but the top-seeded Lancers would not go down without a fight. California Baptist tied the game at 32 apiece a few minutes into the second period, but Colorado Christian seized control for good with a 20-6 run. The Lancers made their comeback attempt with nine unanswered points to cut the Cougars' lead to 58-53 with 2:48 to play, but their rally ran out of steam soon after. Stephenie Allen added 13 points and five assists in the win for the Cougars. Alexis Johnson recorded 11 points and 13 rebounds in a loss for California Baptist, and Jasmine Beverly hauled in 17 rebounds, 11 of which were offensive.
CEDARVILLE 69, ROBERTS WESLEYAN 60 WINONA LAKE – No. 2 Cedarville University jumped out of the gate on an 11-0 run against No. 7 Roberts Wesleyan College and never looked back in a 69-60 victory in the opening round of the 2012 NCCAA Basketball Championships. Kayla Jenerette scored four of her game-high 20 points in Cedarville's opening spurt, and Deborah Chandler added three as the Yellow Jackets (23-7) held Roberts Wesleyan scoreless through the game's first five and a half minutes. While the scoring drought eventually ended for the Raiders (21-12), the team stayed behind Cedarville from start to finish. Roberts Wesleyan struggled to find their shooting touch in the opening period, making 6-of-32 field goal attempts (19 percent). The Raiders scored five straight late in the first half to bring themselves to within four at 24-20, but the Yellow Jackets answered that with a 5-0 run of their own to end the half, and the Raiders never seriously threatened again. Jenerette led all scorers with 20 points to go along with four steals and three assists. Lauryn Robinson tallied a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards. Marissa Sell paced Roberts Wesleyan's attack with 14 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
MOUNT VERNON NAZARENE 48, BLUEFIELD 45 WINONA LAKE – In a game dominated by defense, No. 6 Mount Vernon Nazarene University survived a late charge from No. 3 Bluefield College with a 48-45 victory in the first day of the 2012 NCCAA Basketball Championships. With the win, the Cougars (18-13) punched their ticket to the semifinals where they will face No. 2 Cedarville on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. Offensive woes defined the first portion of play for the Rams (21-11). Through the first 12 minutes of action, Bluefield managed just four points by missing 14 of their first 15 field goal attempts. Mount Vernon's shooting was not much better, however, as they hit 6-of-28 in the first half (21 percent). The teams entered the break with Mount Vernon leading 20-17. Bluefield did not achieve its first lead of the game until midway through the second half. The Rams scored eight points in a row to open up a 37-33 lead with 8:07 to play, but Mount Vernon ended the game on a 15-8 run to seal the upset. Alexis Harkins led all scorers with 14 points. She also added 10 rebounds and three assists, and Sierra Fletcher scored all 10 of her points from the free throw line. Teqa McNeal was the only Ram to reach double figures in scoring with 11.
